Advanced Interrogation Techniques
by editor frog
Summary: Chief Johnson learns some new tricks when a visiting PI conducts an 'interrogation' at Parker Center...


**Hello there. First fic for the fandom**, **so I hope you enjoy. If you've read me before, you'll know all about my PI... ;)

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The tall, dark-haired woman walked into the cramped interrogation room carrying a tray. On it were two small wine glasses and a half-opened bottle of merlot.

"You drink?" the woman asked, looking at the smug lawyer that had been brought in.

A mischievous smirk played across the man's lips. "Not normally."

"Nah. Me neither. But today…eh, what the hell." The woman poured the wine, setting both half-full glasses on the small table, one each in front of each chair.

"I don't recall drinking games being proper protocol for an interrogation."

The young woman shrugged. "They're not. I happen to be celebrating."

"Celebrating?"

"Yes." Picking the glass up on the stem, the raven beauty carefully swallowed a drop of wine quickly.

"Now I'm intrigued."

"Well, it's not all that wonderful…"

"Is that so?"

"Mmm," the young lady murmured.

"I must have missed your name."

"In that ruckus outside?" The girl shook her head. "Nope. Never gave it."

"Oh."

Flicking the wine-filled hand out haphazardly, she added, "It's Chase."

"Then, hello, Chase." The lawyer drank a little of the heady wine, his eyes still searching for some tidbit of information he might have missed. "My name is…"

"I caught it earlier."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Both took another drink, Chase looking more an more contented as she did so.

"I thought you weren't a drinker."

"Well, Chief Johnson seems to keep quite an _excellent_ merlot on hand." The wine glass in her hand took another unexpected tour of the room. "Really, excellent…"

Smiling, the lawyer took another sip. "I have to say, you're making this easier on me."

"Really?"

"I can have all of this thrown out of court."

Chase shrugged, a _so what_ sort of look. "Not like you're talking much."

"I have nothing to confess."

"I know."

"This here, this…_interrogation_…it's all really a formality," the man said. "I could claim duress, or intoxication…"

"You could," Chase said. "But you won't."

"Really?" Now the smug man looked intrigued.

"Yep."

"And why not?"

"Remember that celebration?"

"Vaguely." The lawyer took another sip of wine.

"Well, I'm closing _my_ case."

"How so?"

"Does the name Marta Overlander ring any bells for you?" Chase took another long sip of her drink, her eyes gaining a dreamy-like quality as she swallowed.

"Not particularly."

"Well, that's okay." Chase paused a second, letting the rush of the buzz flow to her head. "See, I've got friends in the Bureau that know all about you, and her…"

"Lies." The confident man sipped the dregs out of the glass, and then refreshed his cup. "They've got nothing."

"You'd be surprised. In any case, they're not my concern right now."

"Yes. The celebration."

"Mmm hmm." Chase took another drink, and then fished into a small black bag for something. It looked to the lawyer like a breath mint. The young woman carefully unwrapped the confection and popped it into her mouth, slowly rattling the candy-like disc across her teeth and tongue. "Well, Miss Overlander's family decided to take matters into their own hands."

"Good luck," the lawyer said. "Every scrap can be tossed out of court."

"I know."

"Then…"

"Do you know what my job is?" Chase asked, staring straight into the eyes of her companion.

"Some sort fo private investigator, I assume."

The woman shrugged. "You're half right."

"Half?"

"Mmm hmm." Chase leaned back in the hard plastic chair and closed her eyes. "You want the truth?"

"I'm all ears."

"I'm a cold-blooded, heartless, government-trained assassin with one hell of a death wish."

The man chuckled, sipped his wine, and then chuckled again, this spell harder than the first. "You're joking."

"Am I?" The girl closed her eyes, her face slackening. "Feel that?"

The room started to spin a little, and his head began to blur the edges of the small space. His throat began to burn.

"What did you do?"

The woman laughed. "Nothing much. Just doing my job."

Thousands of words pressed to be released from the attorney's throat, but all that spewed forth was gasps for air. "H-how…?"

"Pity." Chase picked up her wine glass and shook it a little. "It'll be over quick. At least, it will for me."

"But…"

"Oh, yes." The girl rummaged through her bag again. "I'm sorry, I'm all out." The mint disc clacked against her teeth. "Really, the Overmeyers are going to be pleased. Most families want a jury trial. I know the Chief wanted one. Shame." Deep green eyes studied the writhing figure on the floor of the interrogation room, almost drinking in the pain and suffering of her victim.

"I'll…I'll talk."

Chase shook her head. "Too late."

"There's…there's another girl…"

"And we'll both be dead in about a minute. I wonder what hell's like?"

"She's…she's alive."

"More than I can say for us." Chase sat down next to the lawyer, who was lying on the floor in a mangled, tortured heap.

"13…13467 Par…Parkway, P-Pacific P-Pali…sades…"

"She's probably dead too. Just like Marta. And that other girl…"

"N-no. Acc-accident."

"I bet." Chase's head rolled on her shoulders a few times. "Wow. This is strong stuff. Now I hear pounding on the door…"

Coughing, the lawyer threw up, a dry heave producing little more than spittle and air. Finally, he passed out.

Heaving a sigh, Chase called out into the hidden microphone. "Okay, guys, fix the door and come get him. Like, soon." Knots were beginning to form in her stomach, and the sooner she got to a bathroom, the better.

"Are you completely out of your mind?!" a familiar voice asked, shouting through the reinforced door.

"Are your boys and girls en route?"

"Already there. The girl's safe."

Thank God for that. Now, hurry up."

The door finally opened, and a thick Southern drawl greeted her. "This how you do things in back in Virginia?!" the Chief demanded. Tiny hands carded through long blonde hair, and a brilliant pair of eyes blazed in exasperated fury at the out-of-towner.

"No. But it _is_ how we get things done in the advanced class, Chief. I'm sure you know the school."

Before the petite woman could come up with a response, Chase headed straight for the ladies room and heaved herself dry. "There. Now you got the bastard," she said bitingly. "The rest is up to you."

"I can't take a single…_shred_ of that confession to court!"

"No, but you've got the girl's statement—the one I would presume is in her way to the hospital now. You've got a good forensic case, according to Lt. Tao, and if all that fails, we can claim food poisoning. After all, I'm sick too."

"_Alcohol_ in an _interrogation room?!_"

Chase shrugged. "You're a detective. _Go detect_." With that, she dusted her self off, rinsed out her mouth at the fountain, and headed out of the building. "And my guys wonder why I hate Los Angeles," she muttered as she flagged down a cab. "No one in this god-forsaken city knows _what_ the hell they want..."

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**A/N: I can't for the life of me remember the name of the lawyer in S4's "Power of Attorney." In any case, that's the lawyer being referenced here. :)**

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End file.
